Does it sometime seem that trying to accomplish something is like running in mud? You expend a lot of energy but go nowhere.
Spending the weekend in Seattle I try to help out in daughter's yard/house. I brought my pressure washer with me with the goal of cleaning their deck, concrete walk and steps. It is not the easiest thing for me to actually do any work these days. A combination of age, laziness and probably motivation, but when I decide to do something I want to get 'er done. So, I rolled my washer over next to the hose reel at the side of the house, unscrew the sprayer and screw the hose into the pressure washer. This is not as easy as it seems. The washer on the thing makes it difficult to connect, but I succeed. Now to turn the water on. But what the heck! Where is the turn on valve? My son in law comes over and shows me (it is under a board in the window well). We turn it on and water gushes out from the connector hose from the hose reel. It has come loose and requires a screwdriver to reconnect the clamp. I can't find a screwdriver anywhere nor my son in law who probably knows where one is. I force it on, and it looks o.k., but now I notice that the irrigation system which is on the same connection has numerous spouting leaks around the yard. I go to the biggest gusher and inspect it. The plastic connector is split. O.K. I will check the voluminous quantity of irrigation parts left by the previous homeowner. I find a giant bag of connectors in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet which has a serious dent making it very difficult to open. I cut my little finger on it and am now bleeding profusely. I find a semi-clean paper towel to wrap it with. Going through the parts I find what I think is the right piece. Taking it out to the garden I find it is a male connector, not the female that is needed. I am informed that there are also 2 other leaks. I give up.
There are more ways to skin this cat I think. The other hose reel located in back of the house will barely stretch to enable the cleaning of 1/2 my project. O.K., better than nothing. I hook up the hose, go to turn it on and wait....the valve is closed. Simple to turn on, but it is a "Y" and the other hose needs to be connected. O.K., it is connected to the outdoor sink. When I turn it on water begins gushing from the faucet handles which were removed for the winter. O.K., we remove the "Y" and directly hook up the hose reel. Awesome! I am now ready to plug in the pressure washer. There is an outlet conveniently located next to the other hose reel. I plug it in, turn on the washer and.....nothing. There is no power and no other outlets on the front or rear of house. I now go to the basement, locate the breaker box and find that nothing is tripped. Hmmm. I remember an electrical hose reel in the carport. Great, I plug it in (working outlet), and run it up to the washer....almost. It is too short. Searching the garage I find an extension cord. Now hooked up with water and electricity I pressure wash 1/2 the project. It is now getting late and I am soaking wet. Done for now. What seemed like a simple project has sprouted into the need to fix electical outlet, install faucet handles, pick up parts at Home Depot, repair irrigation system and finish original project another day.
Spending the weekend in Seattle I try to help out in daughter's yard/house. I brought my pressure washer with me with the goal of cleaning their deck, concrete walk and steps. It is not the easiest thing for me to actually do any work these days. A combination of age, laziness and probably motivation, but when I decide to do something I want to get 'er done. So, I rolled my washer over next to the hose reel at the side of the house, unscrew the sprayer and screw the hose into the pressure washer. This is not as easy as it seems. The washer on the thing makes it difficult to connect, but I succeed. Now to turn the water on. But what the heck! Where is the turn on valve? My son in law comes over and shows me (it is under a board in the window well). We turn it on and water gushes out from the connector hose from the hose reel. It has come loose and requires a screwdriver to reconnect the clamp. I can't find a screwdriver anywhere nor my son in law who probably knows where one is. I force it on, and it looks o.k., but now I notice that the irrigation system which is on the same connection has numerous spouting leaks around the yard. I go to the biggest gusher and inspect it. The plastic connector is split. O.K. I will check the voluminous quantity of irrigation parts left by the previous homeowner. I find a giant bag of connectors in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet which has a serious dent making it very difficult to open. I cut my little finger on it and am now bleeding profusely. I find a semi-clean paper towel to wrap it with. Going through the parts I find what I think is the right piece. Taking it out to the garden I find it is a male connector, not the female that is needed. I am informed that there are also 2 other leaks. I give up.
There are more ways to skin this cat I think. The other hose reel located in back of the house will barely stretch to enable the cleaning of 1/2 my project. O.K., better than nothing. I hook up the hose, go to turn it on and wait....the valve is closed. Simple to turn on, but it is a "Y" and the other hose needs to be connected. O.K., it is connected to the outdoor sink. When I turn it on water begins gushing from the faucet handles which were removed for the winter. O.K., we remove the "Y" and directly hook up the hose reel. Awesome! I am now ready to plug in the pressure washer. There is an outlet conveniently located next to the other hose reel. I plug it in, turn on the washer and.....nothing. There is no power and no other outlets on the front or rear of house. I now go to the basement, locate the breaker box and find that nothing is tripped. Hmmm. I remember an electrical hose reel in the carport. Great, I plug it in (working outlet), and run it up to the washer....almost. It is too short. Searching the garage I find an extension cord. Now hooked up with water and electricity I pressure wash 1/2 the project. It is now getting late and I am soaking wet. Done for now. What seemed like a simple project has sprouted into the need to fix electical outlet, install faucet handles, pick up parts at Home Depot, repair irrigation system and finish original project another day.
2 comments:
Welcome to my world Phil.
Sounds like a very trying day, but I had to laugh - sorry. I've been feeling fairly rotten due to a tenacious cold and/or allergies, so anything that makes me laugh is a good thing!
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